page_title: 2009 French Caribbean general strikes
section_title: Escalation
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 French Caribbean general strikes / Guadeloupe / Escalation
caption_attribution_description: Voiture incendiée à Gosier, Guadeloupe.
context_page_description: The 2009 French Caribbean general strikes began in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe on 20 January 2009, and spread to neighbouring Martinique on 5 February 2009. Both islands are located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. The general strikes began over the cost of living, the prices of basic commodities, including fuel and food, and demands for an increase in the monthly salaries of low income workers.
  Stores and gas stations in the private sector, and public sector services including education, public transportation, and sanitation, were temporarily closed in Guadeloupe and Martinique due to the strikes. The strikes ended when the French government agreed to raise the salaries of the lowest paid by €200 and acceded to the strikers' top 20 demands.
  The strikes exposed deep ethnic, racial, and class tensions and disparities within Guadeloupe and Martinique and devastated the tourism industry of both islands during the high season. The islands were believed to have lost millions of dollars in tourism revenue due to cancelled vacations and closed hotels.
context_section_description: After four weeks, the general strike on Guadeloupe escalated into rioting on Monday, 16 February 2009. Protesters clashed in several municipalities across the island, including the largest city, Pointe-à-Pitre, and the northern town of Sainte-Rose.
  Guadeloupe's main airport, Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport, was closed because debris was thrown on the runway, causing American Airlines to cancel all flights. Cars and trees were set on fire in the centre of Pointe-à-Pitre. A group of about sixty protesters clashed with two squadrons of police, who responded by firing tear gas. Police arrested approximately fifty people after protesters threw stones at them as the police tried to remove makeshift barricades in Pointe-à-Pitre. Most of those who were detained were later released after large crowds gathered outside the city's main police station.
  Protesters wearing hooded sweatshirts burned pallets and trashcans to block roads around the southern town of Le Gosier. Victorin Lurel, the Socialist leader of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, described the situation on Guadeloupe as "on the verge of revolt." French Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie called for "calm, responsibility and restraint."
  Armed "youths" manning a makeshift roadblock shot and killed a local union representative in the city of Pointe-à-Pitre just after midnight on Wednesday, 18 February 2009. The victim, Jacques Bino, a 50-year-old tax agent and union member who was returning home from protests elsewhere, was the first person killed during the strike. Bino's car was hit three times by 12-gauge Brenneke-style shotgun slugs. Several police officers were also injured in the overnight violence. Unions leading the strikes called for a deescalation of violence on the island. Elie Domota, a leader of the LKP, told protesters, "Don't put your life in danger – don't endanger the lives of others."
  The situation across the island continued to deteriorate throughout the day on Wednesday, 18 February. The mayor of Pointe-à-Pitre, Jacques Bangou, reported that three policemen were wounded by gunfire in the Cite Henri IV section of the city. Police fired tear gas to break up rioters, but Mayor Bangou told the AFP that there were still "exchanges of gunfire" in the neighborhood. A correspondent for AFP reported hearing more "blasts" in the city just before 0400 GMT on Wednesday.
  Elsewhere, looters attacked a shopping center and ransacked a perfumery and a tire store. A number of police officers were also injured when a group of up to 100 youths "rampaged" though the commercial district of Destrelland in the town of Baie-Mahault and fired guns at police, according to Baie-Mahault's mayor, Ary Chalus.
  More than 500 French police officers arrived in Guadeloupe on 19 February in an attempt to quell the ongoing violence following Bino's death. The deployment occurred after a third straight night of violence. Dozens of police officers landed in the southern town of Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, where protesting youths stormed and occupied the town's city hall. Sainte-Anne Mayor Richard Yacou said that the city hall was not damaged, but nearby businesses in the town were looted and burned. Rioters also fired weapons at police and burned at least five stores and restaurants in Le Gosier. Police dismantled the barricades leading to the main airport, which allowed tourists to leave the island.
caption: A closed gas station near Le Gosier, after a night of violence.
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